This should be on everyone's bucket list. You can cover one of the loops in one day, but if you…read morewant to do the entire 'figure 8' tour, I'd allow for two days. It's an amazing experience. I remember going there as a pre teen but haven't been back in decades...I brought my partner who has never been here. We're both now in our 50s. I'm not sure what the admission fee is as we have an annual America The Beautiful pass that gets us in to all the National Parks. I didn't see much staff except for the entrance kiosk buildings and the tourist trappy visitor centers. Every once in a while we'd see a ranger vehicle driving around. One actually interposed itself between a large buffalo waltzing down the road and a motorcycle rider it was overly interested in. O.O! The crowd here can be very, very busy. I highly suggest getting here as early as possible - right when they open preferably. It's still busy but gives you a few hours start on the REAL crowd and makes the day much nicer.

I've visited Yellowstone National Park twice--first in 2016 and again in 2025--and both trips were…read moreunforgettable. On both visits, I stayed two nights in West Yellowstone and one night near Grand Teton National Park, which gave me plenty of time to explore both incredible parks. During my trips, I was fortunate to see grizzly bears, bison, wolves, and countless ravens in their natural habitat. Some of my favorite places included the Grand Prismatic Overlook (Vista Point) Trail, Grand Prismatic Spring, Lower Falls, Upper Falls, Tower Junction, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful, Norris Geyser Basin, and many other geysers throughout the park. Every stop offers something unique and breathtaking. Yellowstone is one of the most spectacular national parks in the United States. The combination of abundant wildlife, colorful hot springs, waterfalls, mountains, and geothermal features makes every visit unforgettable. Even after visiting twice, I still can't wait to go back. I highly recommend spending at least three days in the area to experience both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.

Great clean place for a picnic in the heart of west Yellowstone. Clean public restrooms. Covered…read morepicnic tables.

Nice Park at the entrance to the town with a few shaded pavilions and lots of parking you can also…read morewalk to the downtown lots of people being there make it safe. Nice basketball courts and soccer field clean bathrooms too

The Arch is Beautiful and you can walk inside and drive thru. It is on way to park and normally Elk…read moreare nearby also check out Arch park right below the Arch. Worth stopping

Yellowstone absolutely blew me away. You can drive for hours looking at the most beautiful sights…read moreyou've ever seen. I actually cried because I felt so overwhelmed by its beauty. If you visit please be respectful of nature, and leave the animals alone. Make sure to bring sunblock, water and snacks. Pro tip: Go to the visitors center before you get started. They are great at giving your advise of how to best enjoy the park, where gas stations are found in the park etc. It's also a nice change to apply sunscreen, use the restrooms, and refill your water bottles.

I hadn't heard of this area before coming to Yellowstone but I saw a sign for it on the Rockefeller…read morefreeway and a lot of cars going toward it so I followed them. I'm glad I did, it's a really neat area and in my opinion almost a better bang for your buck than prismatic springs! You walk along a boardwalk in both areas since the geothermal area is both fragile, and potentially dangerous. There are several steaming pools in this area, including some that are cloudy/hazy, and some that are crystal clear and blue as the Caribbean ocean. This was also the only place I saw elk; there were some just chilling in the middle of the area. The parking lot is huge and easily accessible here as well.

This was a amazing place. I would recommend going to the top look out point then going down to the…read moreactual geyser basin I liked it a lot but I think I had already seen enough hot springs/geysers that I just kinda felt bored here but it was still really cool

Another must do when visiting the Canyon area of Yellowstone National Park. A very easy walk to…read morethe Brink of the Upper Falls for a great view of the falls. Also recommend the the Upper Falls View, Uncle Tom's Trail (when it is open again) and Artist Point on the South Rim and Brink of the Lower Falls, Lookout Point (take the additional walk down to the lower viewpoint) on the North Rim.

Quite literally I cannot recommend this park highly enough. It is one of my absolute favorites,…read moregiven the beauty alone but also the accessibility, proximity to a fun town (Jackson) etc. The airport actually is within the national park (only park that has this feature), so if you land on a clear day you get a STUNNING view of the Tetons mountain range just to the west. Jackson is a 20ish min drive away, or if you go north toward Yellowstone you can pass along the scenic byway and stop along any of the turnouts for INCREDIBLE pictures, including the famous Mormon row. Go into the park toward Jenny lake for some of the most iconic spots, or a solid hike. Delta lake is a hard hike but it's STUNNING, and of course the hike +- the boat ride across Jenny lake to Cascade canyon and hidden falls is as stunning as they come. Oxbow bend is gorgeous for views and chilling too, and I saw folks fishing over in that area. Be aware that the lot at Jenny lake gets INSANELY full despite the fact that it is MASSIVE and has an overflow area, just cause the park is so popular. It is absolutely worth it. Do not miss this park - it lives rent free in my head and every time the weather is good outside I think about hiking in the Tetons!

- Too far from Yellowstone; inconvenient for my tightly crammed itinerary D:…read more+ Tranquil scenery, - minus the crowds. Many pullouts are crowded with families taking pictures. - Because of my tight schedule, I only caught a more distant side view of the "tétons". (I think the 19th-century fur trappers coulda done better) + Still gotta admit, the outstanding shape of those giant, uniquely jagged mountains jutting from the idyllic vegetation and Jackson Lake sure make for a photogenic backdrop.

On our second day in the park, we had visited the Grand Canyon area, and then we discovered the…read morelake. On that day, a storm must've been moving in because the wind was gusting and there were actually waves on the lake! We got out a couple times and explored the beachfront. I found a couple of bird feathers, which was exciting for me, and generally just amazing given the gusts of wind - I was surprised that they didn't blow away. On our third day in the park as we came back through from the fishing bridge headed towards Old Faithful, we went by the lake again, and we were stunned at the complete difference in personality that we were witnessing. The lake was completely and totally calm, quiet, and gentle. We had to stop and explore again, and it was such a different experience from the day before. This lakefront is amazing and it's definitely a place to be explored in the park.

I drove through Yellowstone Lake as I was going to West Thumb Geyser Basin on the eastern portion…read moreof the park. It's a HUGE lake and it took me a while to drive down the road with the lake by my side. There are a lot of pulloffs that you can soak in the views or even go down to the lake and play in the water. It'll take you a while to drive around the entire lake and there are multiple parts of it. West Thumb and Grant Visitor Center will be closest to the main sections of the park and closest to Grand Loop Road. Although the South and Southeast arms of the lake are further away I imagine they're less crowded so you can have more peace doing all your fun activities.

Great campground nestled in a meadow of wildflowers, next to a high mountain lake, surrounded by…read moremountains. This place is wonderful. The only downsides are lots of mosquitos, and the afternoon wind through the mountain pass can be brutal. American White Pelicans on the lake and moose in the willow marsh.

The park is new and still in. It's finishing stages. It is very nice with room lots, nice concrete…read morepad, picnic tables, and fantastic scenery. The manager, Todd, is amazing. He goes out of his way to make sure everyone has an enjoyable experience.

The West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park was efficient every time we went through. We never…read moreencountered a longer WEEKDAY-delay at the entrance than 15min, on different weekdays approximately 6:30am, 8am, 8:30am, 10:30am, and 11am. (Jul 2026). On the other hand, even when we entered at 6:30am, traffic built up by the time we got to popular locations to the south between the entrance and Old Faithful. Not terribly bad, but enough that we would have started earlier if we could have. Studying traffic apps, it looked like traffic was better entering before 5:30am or maybe even 6am. We never saw bad backups (besides wildlife sightings) going north, or going all the way west between the north and south loops. We never started early enough to see sunrise inside the park. At the entrance, the far right lane was for pre-paid passes. With three other lanes open, the prepaid lane wasnt even twice as fast as the others. It was around two-cars faster when the other lanes were 6 or 8 cars. Pretty efficient. And they give you a useful park map, though you can buy more detailed maps and guidebooks at the park's visitors centers and around town. We used the free ones :-) We felt that the NPS app had info that's easier to access than their website. And believe it when they say cell service is limited to the major sights and visitor centers. Even GPS was spotty. So, after our first couple hours in the park, we made a point to download maps and info before the next leg of the trip, and on the second time in, we downloaded the night before.

If you end up trying to save money by staying in Idaho when visiting Yellowstone rather than…read morestaying in Wyoming, this is likely the main entrance you'll use to exit and re-enter the park during the days you visit. This community that the entrance is next to is also called West Yellowstone, and there's a lot of cute stuff there including a national park visitor center, gas stations, souvenirs and gift shops, and of course lots of restaurants and dessert shops. As for the entrance itself: if you come in during the most congested hours (usually 8-10am or so), despite the fact that there are usually 5-7 lanes open, the traffic will back up all the way down the road from the entrance to the main road of west Yellowstone. People do a decent job of spreading out to try to get in as quickly as possible, but you will have to wait at least a bit. It looks a lot worse than it is; I went in around 8:30 am or so and the number of cars was absolutely ABSURD, but the wait for me to eventually get to a ranger was only about 20-25 minutes. After you get through the entrance, there is a short length of two lanes, and then that becomes one lane. So long as there isn't an animal crossing, the lane does move just fine (at speed limit which is 35-45 mph). Overall - don't be too dismayed by the crazy line to get into the park at this entrance, it does move fast and the advantage of a nice visitor center and tons of food, gas and other resources like minutes from that entrance makes it a great spot to look for lodging or a break in between a visit to Yellowstone.

If you're coming into Yellowstone through the North entrance, definitely make a stop here and check…read moreout the hot spring terraces. The limestone rock formations and water features are very cool. The trail isn't overly long so you can make the full loop in about an hour or so (two if you're a slow walker or likes to stop a lot for photos). Parking can be a challenge, like most other popular spots at Yellowstone, but just be patient and eventually you'll find a spot.

We followed the boardwalk along the terraces. The interactions of water and limestone create chalk…read morewhite travertine. These terraces are the fastest changing features in the park, emerging quickly and drying up just as fast. It looks like we are on another planet here.